House Passes WOSB Integrity Act to Ensure Women Small Business Owners Have Fair Access to Federal Contracts

The House of Representatives recently passed The WOSB Integrity Act of 2024 introduced by Representatives Celeste Maloy (R-UT) and Hillary Scholten (D-MI).

This bipartisan bill is designed to ensure federal contracting dollars intended for women-owned small businesses (WOSBs) are awarded to those firms that meet the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) small business size standards.

“This piece of legislation is not about adding red tape or about the government picking winners and losers. The WOSB Integrity Act will simply ensure that competition for government contracting opportunities includes women small business owners and is fair. These entrepreneurs drive our economy forward, and when we support them, innovation thrives and the country prospers,” said Rep. Maloy.

“We all know that there are immense challenges that come with being an entrepreneur, and we also know that those challenges are exponentially greater for women entrepreneurs - especially when it comes to accessing resources to help open or sustain a business,” said Rep. Scholten. “Our bipartisan bill will be critical to breaking down barriers that prevent women-owned businesses from competing for contracts in the federal marketplace, and I want to thank my colleagues for coming together in this important effort. Now it’s time for the Senate to pass this bill and send it to President Biden’s desk for signature.”

“The WOSB Integrity Act of 2024 would help numerous women business owners across the country. With the increased transparency of the WOSB contracting program, more women-owned small businesses can benefit from federal contracts and without any extra burden placed upon them,” said Ann Marie Wallace, state director for the Women’s Business Center of Utah.

The WOSB federal contracting program has become susceptible to abuse and fraud due to a self-certification loophole. Since women- owned small businesses do not have to verify that they are both women-owned and small, large companies are able to self-certify as small businesses to take advantage of the program. Additionally, the federal government has a goal of awarding 5% of federal contracting dollars to women-owned small businesses each year. However, it has only met that goal twice since it was established over 20 years ago.

The WOSB Integrity Act of 2024 would require the Small Business Administration (SBA) and third-party certifying entities to take reasonable action to verify that women-owned small businesses meet the SBA’s small business size standards for receiving federal contracts.